Personalized experiences are shaping the hospitality industry now more than ever before. Why is that? Because guest expectations have changed, and people are now seeking out an experience that’s memorable and special that they can share with their friends and family. With 62% of online adults have chosen, recommended or paid more for a brand that provides a personalized service or experience, it is more important now than ever before for hotels to utilize every tool available, including data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), to deliver on what the guests want and are expecting.
What Do You Want From AI?
To create a memorable experience for your guests and your hotel staff alike, you have to decipher what you want from Artificial Intelligence. How do you want it to help improve customer service? Once you have set your goals, you can use AI in your hotel property management system to capture guest data and gain insight into customer habits that will potentially lead to brand loyalty and lifetime value for your property. By capturing data on your guests from digital communications and booking channels, in-person touch points, social media, and on-property behaviors and spending habits, you get to really know your customers, and in return, this can help with your team’s email marketing and segmentation, in-house experiences for the guest, and follow-up questionnaires or survey ratings.
Segmentation also plays a huge role in marketing and allows hoteliers to show that they care about each and every guest that comes to their property. By utilizing AI and your hotel’s customer relationship management (CRM) connection, hoteliers can easily send targeted marketing campaigns. For example, if you know that one of your guests has been viewing your hotel spa website a few times but still has not booked an appointment, you can send this guest a targeted email talking about the spa, its most popular services, and offer a discount if he or she books today. This level of service lets the guest know that you are paying attention and care about their interests. It also helps promote other departments within the property which can help with incremental revenue and upsells. When that guest is later on the property, simply mentioning that you hope they enjoy their spa day or leaving a ‘spa themed’ package in their room filled with soaps and lotions, can further elevate the guest experience and create those memories that they will share with friends and family. According to surveys, word of mouth marketing impression results in five times more sales than a paid impression, and people are 90% more likely to trust a brand endorsed by a friend.
Future-forward Planning
By gathering data on guest satisfaction and feedback, personalization and data optimization can also help hoteliers and their staff to give 5-star service right away, reducing the amount of time and resources it would otherwise take to gather information about a guest’s preferences. And, with an increase in word of mouth referrals from guests, their personal social marketing posts about the property or their experience at the property, and positive travel website review ratings, which can lead to an increase in direct bookings and a positive impact on your hotel’s bottom line. Hoteliers potentially get free marketing, which can also lead to increased upsell revenue and incremental revenue through their guests’ personal marketing channels along with the guest’s positive experience. This can help with analyzing the amount of discounts being offered, resort fees, room price, etc.
Personalization is currently a top hospitality buzzword for good reason. More hoteliers are recognizing the value that personalization has on the guest experience and their properties potential revenue. With a powerful hotel PMS and endless integration capabilities, hoteliers can future-proof their properties and truly customize their platform to make sure that their property stands out from the rest.
Ready to see how a partner like SkyTouch can impact your operations and your revenue? Contact us today and book a demo of the SkyTouch Hotel Operations Platform.
